Dark Matter’s Melissa O’Neil hopes for answers in Season 2

Melissa O’Neil has the same questions for Dark Matter creators Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie as fans do. Who was the old man Alexander Rook (Wil Wheaton) was talking to? How will the Raza crew react to Six’s betrayal? What is Two’s back story? O’Neil has her fingers crossed she—and we—get some closure on those queries along with the original conundrum: who erased One (Marc Bendavid), Two (O’Neil), Three (Anthony Lemke), Four (Alex Mallari Jr.) and Five’s (Joelle Ferland) minds in the first place?

In our exclusive chat with O’Neil from the show’s set earlier this year, she spoke about Dark Matter‘s fans and Two’s Season 2 journey.

Visiting the set is surreal. The ship’s hallways are spectacular.
Melissa O’Neil: I know. [Production designer] Ian Brock did an amazing job on our sets. Wait until you see the design of the galactic prison. That was stunning and so streamlined. When we walked in we were blown away. It’s glossy and sexy.

The last time we spoke was before Dark Matter debuted for Season 1. Were you surprised by how quickly the fans embraced the show?
I think it’s the habit of the theatre performer to do your research and put in your work … and the rest of it is kind of out of your hands. You can’t really think about how people will receive it because you’ll just drive yourself crazy. What really surprised me with regard to the fans if that I love how interactive they are. I’d love to amp that up a bit this year with some of these new apps.

When we went to San Diego and they told us what conference room we were in I thought, ‘Who are they kidding? Who is even going to come?’ And when we walked out on stage, the room was filled. I don’t think I have much perspective on what I’m a part of yet. I keep drawing parallels to theatre, but when you’re up on stage you can see the audience in the seats. For people to tell us how many viewers we get every week in Canada or around the world, I still can’t really wrap my head around that. I guess the only real, tangible way to understand it is through my phone and the people who reach out.

The sexualized element to Two isn’t found in the way she interacts with other people in a sexually explicit way; it’s an undertone of femininity that’s already there

Two had a fantastic journey in Season 1. Cliffhangers every episode, the nanite technology, Will Wheaton as Alexander Rook, the old man…
The old man was creepy, huh?

What can you tell me about Two’s Season 2 adventure?
So far, we’ve found out that Two isn’t exactly human … but if you cut her open she looks like a human on the inside. But she can regenerate and heal a lot faster. Even though we’re up to Episode 205, we really haven’t touched on that. Where we’re going with her is still a mystery to me and I keep trying to corner Joe and Paul and find out. They think it’s better for me, as an actor, to be a little bit in the dark about who she is.

We’re also dealing with Six’s betrayal. I’m really the only one that sees him in that last moment. I wake up and have that knowledge that Six was the spy.

Will Two reveal what she saw?
That remains to be seen, but I think she still has questions about who she is and who the hell Rook was and what is Dwarf Star Technologies. She really didn’t get many answers last year. She felt she needed to escape from that place and apparently kill everyone in her path to do that. I remember something about the old man asking how old the body is…

I suspect the body he was in wasn’t his original body…
Yes … that’s not the first go-round, and this is happening in the same facility as the nanites. Who the hell knows what’s going on?! The other thing that hasn’t really been answered is who these people were before the wipe.

I love how the cast have as many questions as the viewers do.
It’s true. We’re just as much in the dark as everyone.

Talk about Two’s physicality.
In a lot of science fiction shows, a woman in this role would have a very sexualized element to her. And, not that there isn’t one, but the sexualized element to Two isn’t found in the way she interacts with other people in a sexually explicit way; it’s an undertone of femininity that’s already there in her diplomacy, in the way she fights, in her body language. I dig that about her and I know it’s designed by the guys. Being sexy isn’t a defining characteristic in her.

Prior to becoming a television critic and partner at TV, Eh?, Greg David was a critic for TV Guide Canada, the country's most trusted source for TV news. He has interviewed television actors, actresses and behind-the-scenes folks from hundreds of television series from Canada, the U.S. and internationally. He is a podcaster, public speaker, weekly radio guest and educator, and past member of the Television Critics Association.